MONSOON MUSINGS - 1

When we talk about monsoon, the lazy chair straightaway takes me back to the 50s and 60s. In a kerala village, the schools reopening after the summer vacations and starting of monsoon would happen almost at the same time.  

So we used to walk to the school and back, many times in rain. When in 4^th and 5^th standards (till then I was privately educated, at home) we were going to the school in our village and so the walking was only about one kilometer, one way. But in 6^th standard and subsequently till 10^th, I was in various schools, walking 6 to 7 kilometers every day, twice. At least half of that distance, we would cross rice fields and to achieve this, walking through the slippery ledges without falling into the very muddy and slushy field, is a feat in itself. Most of the time, we would be in our wet clothes in the school until they get dried up using your body heat.

One of those years when I was in 7^th standard, I had to walk those kilometers and in between I had to cross a river in the boat. During the monsoon, the river will be full with heavy currents, the width almost touching almost two kilometers. The boatman, would refuse to overload the boat, so sometimes, some of us have to wait so long for the next boat to come.

When we were in 4^th and 5^th standards, there were no umbrellas as we know them today. These days there are many different types, big umbrellas with a push button to open it; small foldable umbrellas which one can single-fold or double-fold and put in one’s bag; colorful umbrellas; umbrellas on which alphabets are written etc. etc. But those days we had umbrellas made of bamboo and palm leaves. These were not foldable nor were these even closable.

We were walking barefooted those days. I got my first pair of footwear when I was in 10^th standard. Made of leather, we were more interested in protecting them from rains so we would never use them during monsoon.

Then when I joined polytechnic, it was necessary to have shoes, because to do the workshop classes you must wear shoes. From our lodge, we had to walk about 2 kilometers to the polytechnic and here we had no choice. We had to wear the shoes whether it was raining or not. But there were waterproof shoes or boots or gumboots. Gumboots were ok for walking outside in rain because you could insert your trousers into it. But they were in no way suitable for working in a workshop class

Another change that happened entering into the polytechnic time was raincoat instead of umbrella. In a black raincoat and gumboot and a cap, you almost looked like a detective in some of those movies of that era.

But all through these years in Kerala, I enjoyed the monsoons when the nature suddenly becomes all lush green and beautiful. Playing in rain used to be the order of the day. We never sang the song,

                      Rain, rain, go away

Come again another day

Little Johnny wants to play….

We would rather ask the rain to come harder and the wind to blow faster because the little ‘us’ want to play…..

In Malayalam, actually there is a song, almost meaning this….

                               

                                Mazha Mazha peyyatte

                                Idi vetti peyyatte…..

(let the rain pour down with thunder……)

The bullock races that happen during preparation of the paddy fields for planting the next crops are some of the most thrilling affairs. The workers there will wear the palm umbrella like a cap leaving both the hands free to do the work.

After the school and some thrilling games in the rain, we would go the huge temple pond and swim and most of the time, the elders to come and pull us out of the pond since we would not come out on our own……

Those were the days…..